Gilman's Return to Asia: Indonesia segment begins in Lombok

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We arrive to Lombok via an overnight stay in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But first, we are joined by Chandra, my former colleague and friend, from Welch Allyn, Malaysia. We meet him for a beer and dinner "just like old times." It was wonderful to see Chandra and have a chance to catch up in person. We hope to do the same with Gavin, Lilian and the Singapore team when we visit Singapore early next month! Ugh. Forgot to take a picture!

Lombok is the laid back Bali of yesteryear. It is the end of rainy season, but there is plenty of rain and thunder left waiting for us. Not bad, considering we have yet to wear our rain gear. Just wait! We immediately negotiate a taxi to Tetabatu, famous for its volcano and highest peak for trekking in Indonesia, Mt Rinjani.

The volcano is in clouds as we pull up to the Haikiki Inn, made up of a few small chalet/bamboo huts amidst the greenest of green rice fields. The best part is our friends, Donna from Quebec, Canada and Carol from Fairbanks, Alaska come out to greet us! Our idea to "perhaps meet again in our travels" that we came up with a year ago when we met in Costa Rica, becomes a reality! We are all happy to see each other.

The 4 of us and 2 of the hotel's dogs take a walk into the rice fields, with the dogs leading the way! We see so much potential to explore but realize quickly, the paddies are like a maze, confirming that the next day we will hire a local guide! The dogs do get us back in one piece, with combined efforts of all of us!

We wake to an overcast, but perfect day to explore the rice fields with our guide, Abul. Abul takes us along the narrow paths between the fields, explaining the planting and growth cycles of rice. There are grades of rice - high to low, white and black, sticky, long and simple! Who knew? It takes 3 months for the entire process.

Along the way, we pass small villages comprised of 4-15 cinder block and/or bamboo homes. Abul points out to us vanilla, cocoa, chilies, nutmeg, coffee (grown on trees vs bushes as we have seen other places), of course, bananas, beans.....all grown by and for the locals. We see people cutting grasses, tying them and carrying perhaps +100 pounds on their shoulders!? Not for me.

Chilies

Cocoa

Vanilla

Too heavy for me! Will stick to retirement.

Our destination is the local waterfalls. A refreshing ""shower" for Aaron, while the rest of us soak our feet, before returning to Haikiki Inn. We all agree, it was a full, very good day.

We finish the day with dinner where we sit in a rice hut and eat our meal, cross legged, on a bamboo mat floor. We are catching on that meals take time to make. Waiting time is 30-50 minutes as a norm. Patience. It is a laid back place. What is kinda neat, and may be cultural, or due to it being low, slow season, or both, is that the hotel as well as wait staff at restaurants, stop by your table while you are waiting, telling you stories, asking questions or just seeing how you are and what plans you have. Often, they remain even during or after your meal! What a difference from the hustle bustle of most wait staff at home. And, in case you are wondering, tips are not customary, so they aren't schmoozing for a tip!
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We part ways from the gals to head north, to Senaru for 2 days, before meeting up with them again on the Gili Islands. Senaru is on the other side of Mt. Rinjani. Rather than the cone of the volcano, you see the peaks of this tall volcanic mountain. An afternoon walk gave us an idea of this trekking base village for Mt. Rinjani climbers, and what we hoped to see the next day after talking to a few guide services about a cultural and rice fields trip to the local villages of the Sasaks....the local indigenous people of this area.

We managed to get back to our hotel after dinner in the pitch dark of night thanks to a power outage, one of several during our stay. I will admit the local dogs freaked me out as our flashlights lit up their many eyes. Phew....we made it back. I mentioned rain earlier, right? It came down in BUCKETS and whatever else you can imagine during the night. So much so, we mentally prepared to leave the next day.

Lucky us. We woke to light overcast skies that turned blue later in the morning. Our guide, Kutni, is a woman of 35 who, as we get to know her, is a true local pioneer! She is the first woman guide in the area and is training 40 other women to do the same. Her goal is to empower women, including herself, to be independent and have options other than staying home or working in the rice fields. She is a mom of 2, wife, cousin to over 100 locally and never stops! Kutni's English is extraordinary.

We meet at 8am to begin our cultural tour and are pleased to find that we will spend "a day in the life of Kutni"! We begin with a walk toward the Sasak villages, where Kutni points out the local fruit and vegetables that grow along the path. These are communal fields, cared for and shared by the community. Like Abul, she points out cocoa, beans, vanilla, chilies, different rices as if we are at Whole Foods grocery, including peanuts, which I forgot, grow in the ground, like onions.

Cocoa, Kutni tells us, is sold raw. She claims the locals don't know the taste of chocolate, and so, don't make it, since when they try, the result is sticky and not good. Sheri, can you imagine!?!

We learn that a young girl of 12 has died from we think, a brain tumor overnight, and we will be going to her village to pay our respects. We are told, the girl is Muslim (as are 85% of this island), and will be buried later that day. She will lay covered under a bamboo roof, with her parents and 8 siblings as the community come from miles away to prepare a large communal meal and pay their respects. Here you can see the women pounding rice, while other groups of men and women sit and wait, having brought gifts of food and other offerings.

That is beetle nut she is chewing
and will spew out orange liquid later

The girls invite me to join them.
None speak English!

Aaron joins the men. Shorts covered
out of respect.

Although Muslim in religion, the Sasak people have strong animistic beliefs and traditions from their ancestors which they incorporate into their day to day. Examples include a village Shaman/healer, attention to the sun, moon and sky influence over daily tasks, and the position and maintenance of local temples to protect the village. Additionally, Muslim practices of female segregation, the cumpulsory covering of womens' heads and the absence of alcohol are more relaxed among the Sasaks.

Stickers are a big hit!

Sasak girls bed in house, clothes on
table. No closets.

The day continues with our learning how to plant rice. Yep, ankle deep in dirty water and mud we bend over and place young rice shoots deep in the mud! The women who teach us have planted 5 fields since morning. We slow them down! Off we go to the waterfalls to cool off a bit before lunch.

The day finishes up with Kutni taking us to the oldest Mosque in Indonesia, 400 years old, made of bamboo and then to her family village for a baby naming and meal with extended family. We are humbled and happy to be able to share in her day.

Oldest mosque - 400 years old

The baby girl is given a name by the village leader, marked with beetle nut and chanted over in prayers. Numbers for her astronomical "sign" are written down by the Shaman leader and given to her father. The meal includes bamboo shoot curry, banana tree nut curry, rice wine and a baked banana coconut "cake" wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over a fire.

Preparing banana dessert

We see local weaving before heading back later to our now "favorite" restaurant for dinner. Great food, infinity pool over rice fields and they take VISA! Kutni will return home late, put her children to bed and be ready the next morning for another tour! Amazing day for us.

Thumbs up day, thanks to Kutni

I leave Sanaru trying to think of ways to describe the unending variety of shades and colors of green, leaf shapes, sizes and textures we have seen since coming to Lombok......and decide I can't. It is beyond description.

It is time to head to the beaches of the Gili Islands and reconnect with Donna and Carol. We stay at the Woodstock Inn, on Gili Trawangan, where each room has a musicians name instead of a number. We are in Ravi Shanker with the gals in the room upstairs. Other rooms were Santana, Joan Baez, Janis Joplin etc. Bob, sound familiar!?

The island can be walked around in under 2 hours which is what we do. No cars, motorcycles or dogs make this a quiet, laid back village, with only the tinkle of the bells of horse drawn carts all day and funky music at night when this "party" island comes alive. We are in bed by then, but we hear it's a scene!?

Snorkeling, diving, glass bottom boats are big here. After a HUGE rain at night, we wake to a pleasant day and after breakfast on our porch, rent a boat to check out Gili Meno, the 2nd of the 3 Gili islands. Another 2 hour walk around this sparse island, known for honeymooning, a bit of swimming and on our way back, our boat driver lets us enjoy the glass bottom boat views of turtles, fish, coral and even a few scuba divers! Very cool.

We skip Gili Aire, island 3, and instead, opt for biking around the island we are staying on and going for a swim after lunch on the beach. Donna and Carol join us for most, adding a bird rescue sanctuary and snorkeling to their itinerary. Despite the occasional heavy rains, mostly when we are in the room, we have 3 great days on the Gili's. Dinners are delicious and cheap from a selection of BBQ meat, fish and veggies at the night market.

We wrap up Lombok, a wonderful visit, with a local ferry ride from the Gilis back to the mainland, to Senggigi, a coastal resort area, before saying goodbye to Carol. We ferry over to Bali by fast boat this time, with Donna. We will begin our volunteer stint on Sunday and will see Donna again in 2 weeks. Stay tuned.